I bought a bag of cranberries before Thanksgiving with the intention of making a cranberry bread and well, it did not happen. The cranberries have been hanging out in my freezer ever since. I’m the only one in the family that likes them and I didn’t think they’d be their best a year from now so when I came across the following recipe, I knew what I would do with them. I made it last night and brought it to work this morning.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 cups (or 1 bag) cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• the zest & juice of 2 lemons, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (or use lemon for an intense flavor)
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

For the glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Grease a bundt pan and sprinkle the brown sugar over the bottom of the pan, then add the cranberries. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Using the back of a spoon, press the lemon zest into the sugar until fully incorporated. Add the butter and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla (or lemon extract – I’ll use this next time, or perhaps half vanilla and half lemon) and the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition & scraping down the sides of the bowl.

In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and lemon juice. Or, since I never have buttermilk on hand, make it yourself using 2 tbsp. of lemon juice and fill the remainder of the measuring cup with milk and allow to sit until it curdles. Starting and ending with the flour mixture, incorporate into the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk, beat until just combined. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly over the cranberries.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until lightly browned on top and knife inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely.

Once cooled completely, prepare the glaze by whisking together the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar and drizzle over the cake.

Adapted from:  http://www.annies-eats.com/2014/12/17/glazed-cranberry-lemon-cake/